


A perfect day

by moonlightdancer



Series: Jason and Peter moments [5]
Category: bare: A Pop Opera - Hartmere/Intrabartolo
Genre: M/M, wonderland gang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2020-04-07 19:08:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19091275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlightdancer/pseuds/moonlightdancer
Summary: The wonderland gang spend one perfect day together in September, when Peter and Jason are still "just friends".





	1. An idea

**Author's Note:**

> Just some idea I had about how a simple day can be made perfect when you spend it with your favourite people.
> 
> Disclaimer: While the idea and the words are my own, neither the characters nor any other part of Bare is, obviously.

It was hot for mid-September. The sun was shining down out of a blue sky dotted with small, white cotton clouds and a very light breeze was ruffling the leaves on the trees. Picture-book weather, thought Peter, standing in his boxers at the open window, feeling the sun warm his face and chest. He'd just rolled out of bed and enjoyed letting the sun finish the job of waking him up. The last fleeting fragments of a pleasant dream slowly dissolved in the sun and left Peter with a warm feeling of contentment.

A faint rustle and a tingling sensation in his lower back made him smile and with his eyes still closed and face turned to the sun he mumbled, “Morning, Jase...” Jason was awake and looking at him. He just knew.

“Morning,” came the sleepy reply, followed by a big yawn. “You're up early. It's Saturday.”

“And a very beautiful Saturday!”

“Yeah? If you say so...my eyes are still closed.”

“Liar!” Peter smiled even broader and finally turned around towards Jason, who had sat up in bed and was grinning at Peter with his blue eyes indeed wide open.

Peter loved those eyes but would only admit so to himself when he sometimes lay awake late at night. They were the colour of a clear winter sky and he felt he could drown in them if he didn't take care. Over the summer holidays he had started fantasising about those eyes. Well, if truth be told about Jason in general - his cocky smile, the unruly blonde hair he brushed back absentmindedly a hundred times a day, his athletic body and mostly about the innocent kiss they'd shared, playing truth or dare the night before the summer holidays. That didn't really mean anything though, did it? But then why did his mind keep returning to it, unbidden, all the time? Jason had probably forgotten all about it already anyway. They'd texted a lot over the summer, but neither had alluded to that kiss even once.

Quite suddenly, exclaiming “I've got an idea”, Jason scrambled out of his bed, nearly tripping over the tangled blanket, and started rummaging in his drawer.

Peter shook his head slightly to drag his thoughts back to the here and now. Jason was his best friend and that was what mattered. “What is it?” he asked him with a bemused look, watching as Jason pulled out various items and discarded them carelessly on the floor of their room.

Despite being a straight A student, an ace at most sports and having very strict parents, Jason had never been very tidy and kept scattering his things all over the place. The first year they had shared a room, Peter had complained about that, after slipping on a baseball lying next to his bed and bumping his head on the bedframe. Jason had apologized profusely and promised to clear up his mess, but despite the good intentions his stuff was still everywhere. Peter had given up and started to just shove everything that was in the way under Jason's bed.

After a few moments, Jason finally pulled out his swimming trunks, waving them over his head triumphantly, like a flag. “How about we go swimming at the lake? Take some food, the volleyball and stuff. I'm sure the gang's up for it. What do you think?”

Peter laughed at the little-boy enthusiasm in his room-mate's voice. “Yeah, sounds great! Let's head down to breakfast and ask them. I'm sure Matt and Nadia are already up. And we can just throw Lucas out of bed on our way.”

“And Tanya at the same time, probably...” Jason winked at him.

“Yeah.” Peter grinned. Lucas and Tanya had been an item for a while and enjoyed the lucky circumstance that Lucas currently had no roommate.

“Ok, let's go, then,” Jason tossed the volleyball he had fished out from under his bed at Peter, then took off the shirt he slept in and picked a fresh one from the pile of clothes on the floor.

“Hey, you ok? You look like you're in a trance.”

Peter started and quickly averted his eyes – he had been staring and Jason had noticed. Damn. But, God, he looked so gorgeous. And right now his blue eyes were trained on him with a quizzical look in them.

“I'm fine. Just...zoned out for a minute,” Peter mumbled and turned around to get dressed himself. Jason nudged him playfully in the side. “Let's get going. You can daydream at the lake.”

They started packing their things, teasing each other, drinking in the exuberant mood of a sunny day with happy plans and free of obligations.

 

*

 

Half an hour later, the Wonderland Gang, as Lucas had once jokingly termed them – and the name had stuck – was sitting at a table in Saint Cecilia's cafeteria over coffee and breakfast.

While Jason was explaining their plan, Peter who sat next to him, drinking a cup of milky coffee, let his gaze wander over their friends.

Despite it being only 9 am on a Saturday, Ivy was chirpy as ever. She kept snatching bits of food from Matt's plate, while listening to Jason. She wore a short, lemon-yellow summer dress that set of her dark, curly hair falling over her shoulders in waves and Peter thought how pretty she was. He had often wondered why he could see how beautiful a girl was without being the least bit attracted to her.

Sitting next to her, Nadia stabbed at her cereal with her spoon as if she wanted to seriously harm it before eating it. She kept her eyes down and didn't seem all that enthusiastic about going to the lake. Not that Peter had expected otherwise. Jason had told him once that she didn't like her body much, so swimming was probably not her favourite pastime. Peter hoped she'd still come to the lake anyway. He genuinely liked hanging out with her and enjoyed her acerbic wit and sometimes volatile personality, which was so unlike his own.

Matt, immaculately dressed as always, tried listening to Jason, at the same time defending his breakfast against Ivy's attacks, which showed him to be much more awake than Lucas, who looked still half-asleep. Lucas had his arms around Tanya, whom they'd found in his room as expected, and rested his head on her shoulder. Peter felt quite envious of their easy, relaxed relationship. They just seemed so...happy.

“Sooooo,” Jason beamed at them all, “Is everyone coming?”

“Of course. It's an awesome idea!” Ivy looked at the others for confirmation, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Yeah.” Tanya nodded enthusiastically and Lucas, who was by now slurping his cup of coffee noisily, gave a thumbs-up with his free hand.

“Nadia? Matt?”

Matt seemed undecided, but when he saw Ivy pretend to scowl, he smiled slightly and said “Yeah, ok. But...how do we get there? It's too far to walk, I think...and I can't “borrow” the church van in broad daylight. Father Flynn would notice it's gone.”

Jason and Peter had already talked about that on their way to breakfast, so Peter set down his cup and finally chimed in: “Well, we can just go by bike. Jason says he knows a path through the woods that takes us there, and it's only about twenty minutes or so by bike.”

Matt shrugged his shoulders apologetically. “Actually, I don't have a bike here.”

For a moment a slight frown crossed Jason's face. Then he turned to Peter. “Peter, you could ride with me and let him have your bike, if you're fine with riding on the handlebars? It's probably not very comfy but it's not far...”

To Peter that actually sounded like fun, so he quickly agreed.

“Well, how about you, little sister?” Jason teased Nadia, who hadn't said a word yet.

“I'm still 7 minutes older than you,” she replied with a dark look in his direction, that lacked any real anger. No matter how much they tried to wind each other up, everyone could tell they were close and loved each other. “I don't know.”

“You should really come,” Ivy said with a grin, “And bring one of your shirts – we can use it as a picnic blanket.”

“Fuck you, princess. Your bikini doesn't even cover enough of you,“ Nadia retorted, without even looking at Ivy.

“Oh, come on...” Lucas rolled his eyes and gave a big yawn. “Stop the bitching, ladies. It's way to early for that.”

Peter gave Nadia a friendly nudge. “Well?”

“Alright, alright.” Nadia agreed finally and unsuccessfully hid a tiny smile behind an unconvincing scowl.

Peter smiled. It promised to be a great day.

 


	2. Going to the lake

They had decided to meet an hour later at the shed, in which the bikes were kept, at the back of Saint Cecilia's old dorm building. By then it was late morning and the sun was beating down as if it was a day in July.

Nadia was sitting under the old majestic oak tree, that threw its shade over the bike shed, a bit apart from the others, who lay sprawled in the sun, chatting. She looked slightly unhappy in a long, loose shirt she kept tugging at and shorts that came to her knees. It was not her preferred apparel and it showed.

Leaning on the tree trunk, she watched as Peter and Jason, the last ones to arrive, strolled down the short path from the dorm together, talking and laughing about some private joke, oblivious to the world around them. When they had almost reached the shed, Jason finally took his eyes off his best friend and when he spotted Nadia sitting by herself, gave a nonchalant wave in her direction, before dumping the volleyball, backpack and blanket he was carrying next to the shed's door and heading over to her. Peter decided to give them a moment alone and joined the rest of the gang. He let himself flop onto the grass next to Ivy.

“Wow, where'd you find those?” Peter asked Lucas, who sported ridiculously large sunglasses.

“Oh, you know, found them lying around at my parent's house during the summer holidays. Probably my dad's, from the 70s.” Lucas grinned.

“Real vintage sunglasses, then. Probably worth a fortune” Peter joked while he adjusted Jason's backpack, which he was using as a pillow.

The others chatted on and Peter, feeling already pleasantly drowsy from the sun, let the sound of their familiar voices wash over him like a gentle wave at a Mediterranean shore. He was happy, surrounded by his friends...and people he loved.

A slight turn of the head and he could see Jason and Nadia sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in the shade, talking quietly, Nadia looking as relaxed and cheerful as possible for her. Only with Jason did she look that way, and Peter felt he knew exactly what she was feeling. The world seemed to be a better place with Jason around.

After a couple of minutes Jason pulled Nadia to her feet and signaled to the rest of the gang that they were going into the shed to get the biked. This started a commotion, with everyone grabbing their stuff and enthusiastically scrambling to their feet at the same time, getting entangled in the process. Matt ended up tripping over Lucas's leg and went sprawling at Ivy's feet, who laughed and held out her hand to help him up.

“You can worship me later at the lake, Matt,” she grinned, at which Matt blushed slightly, as she had intended him to, and brushed the grass from his pants.

Meanwhile, Peter had already pulled his bike from the labyrinthine darkness of the bike shed and now handed it over to him. Tall, slender Matt had to fold himself onto the bike, which provoked a new gust of laughter from his friends.

“Yeah, you laugh now. Let's see who's having the most uncomfortable ride, though.” Matt pretended to growl at Peter. “But thanks, Peter.”

Soon everyone was ready; backpacks, food, Volleyball and blankets were strapped to the bikes and the bike shed locked up again.

“Ready?” Jason asked and turned to Peter, who nodded. He wrapped a thick towel around the handlebars of Jason's bike and gingerly clambered up to sit on it, trying to keep his balance. His face must have given him away, making Jason laugh even while trying to hold the bike steady.

“Stop laughing! This feels pretty precarious. I feel like a parrot on his perch...” Peter quipped, which made Jason laugh even harder. “I warn you, Jason, don't you go throwing me in the ditch!”

Jason winked at him. “ Nah, I'm a good driver. Don't you trust me, Peter?”

“Alright, boys and girls, stop flirting, let's go,” Lucas interjected and started off, the others falling in line, with Jason and Nadia bringing up the rear.

They pedaled slowly towards the nearby wood and found the light-dappled path that wound through the woods for a couple of miles until it joined a small brook which ultimately fed into the lake at the far edge of the woods. The path was quite narrow and in places nearly overgrown with nettles and weeds, so the going was slow, but no-one was in a hurry. Lucas started singing some old show tunes at the top of his voice, deliberately off-key, with Ivy and Tanya joining in.

“You guys suck at singing. You're insulting my ears and...” Matt called from behind them, but was cut short when he hit a patch of nettles. Nadia, who was right behind him, could hear him swearing under his breath.

“Well, Matt's already having a good time,” she said, turning around slightly to look at Jason and Peter. “And how are you doing up there, Peter?”

“I'm fine.” Peter smiled. “...watch out!” Nadia turned back just in time to swerve and avoid the hazelnut-branches sticking into the path and decided to keep her eyes forward.

After the first few minutes Peter had actually begun to enjoy the ride. He leaned back a little and rested his back against Jason's arms, which was surprisingly comfortable. When he closed his eyes, with the sun and shade dancing across his closed eyelids, the wind in his face and the sensation of the world rushing by, he felt like he was flying – absolutely free. At the same time he felt as safe as he had ever felt. The reassuring warmth of Jason's arms at his back were like a promise that nothing could ever happen to him, as long as those arms were there to catch him.

Jason saw Peter close his eyes and smiled to himself. It felt good to be so close and to be trusted so completely. He loved seeing Peter this happy and in that moment realised that he would do anything to keep him that way. Except for Nadia, he'd never felt like this about anyone before. For some time now he'd had a nagging feeling that friends shouldn't feel like this about one another. Not this strongly, not this way. And he'd tried to suppress whatever _this_ was and ignore the need he felt to be close to Peter. But today, on this sunny late-summer's day, he simply didn't care.

Peter's head resting against his arms and shoulders felt like the most natural thing in the world and a contented, warm fuzzy feeling spread through his whole body and made him want this moment, this bike ride to the lake, to last forever.

 


	3. At the lake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wonderland Gang has arrived at the lake

* * *

 

The lake was an abandoned quarry that had filled with water some thirty years ago. It was ringed on three sides by steep cliffs that had been the quarry walls and that sloped gently down to the beach at the far side of the lake. The deep, clear water reflected the trees that came right up to the water's edge high on the cliff. There was no road to the lake now, only small paths used by the local youths and the students of Saint Cecilia's. Behind the small beach stretched a vista of sunny meadows uninterrupted by signs of civilisation.

In the hot summer months it was hard to find an empty spot on the beach or in the shade under the nearby trees, but on this September day there were only a handful of other boys and girls at the other end of the beach when the Wonderland Gang arrived. They jumped off their bikes when the path wound out of the treeline onto the sand and pushed the bikes across to a spot Lucas and Tanya picked right in the middle of the beach, where they dropped everything unceremoniously and spread out their blankets and towels.

Peter was feeling warm and light-headed from the bike ride and was startled from his daydreaming by Nadia nudging him. “Hey. What's up with you? You're moving kinda in slow motion.”

“It's nothing,” he said with a quick smile and shrugged his shoulders slightly. “Just...thinking, you know.” “Hm.” Nadia frowned at him. But to be fair, that wasn't a very uncommon expression for her, so Peter decided she didn't expect any further explanation.

Meanwhile, the others had already undressed and stood in their bikinis and swimming shorts, basking in the warm sunshine, looking towards the glittering lake. Ivy was looking like a pin-up girl with her intentionally retro red bikini, and Peter wasn't surprised when he saw Matt staring longingly at her. He grinned. Matt really was smitten – and Ivy knew it, of course, and made him jump through hoops for her. Everyone with eyes in their head knew. Right now, however, Ivy had her back turned to Matt and was talking to Jason, who laughed at one of her remarks and ruffled his blond hair until it stood up in spikes, sweaty from the bike ride. But then he turned his head and his eyes sought out Peter. Peter felt like he'd been caught staring – which he probably had been doing, if he was honest - and blushed slightly.

“Hey. C'mon Peter, why are you still dressed? Hurry up. I really need to get in the water, I'm sweating like crazy.”

Peter hurriedly stripped out of his shirt and pants, and just in time, as Lucas suddenly yelled: “Last one in the water is a loser!” and started sprinting towards the lake. The rest of the Wonderland Gang followed a second later, making a run for the water as if running for their lives, shouting and squealing when they hit the cold water. No-one admitted to being last in the water and no-one cared.

Half an hour later, despite goose-bumps and icy toes, they were still splashing around and trying to outdo one another inventing stories of sea monsters in the deep to scare Matt with and scaring themselves in the process. This became obvious, when suddenly, a single strand of algae brushed against Peter's calf and he involuntarily gave an alarmed yelp. “Something's touched me!”

It didn't matter that he knew, of course, that there were no monsters in the lake. Something HAD touched him, the water was dark and the great depth of the lake seemed suddenly very creepy. He started to scramble for the rocks that gave access to the shore.

His panicked cry was so sudden that the others stopped splashing around immediately and after barely a second's hesitation joined in the dash for the monster-free safety of the beach, shouting and nearly climbing over each other to get out first. Ivy and Jason who had been farthest from the shore were the last to crawl out over the rocks. They joined their friends standing on the beach, now all breathing heavily from the scare and spontaneous exertion.

Bending over to catch his breath, Jason noticed the strand of algae still clinging to Peter's leg and quickly snatching it off. He started laughing uncontrollably at the absurd panic they had all felt, until he couldn't keep upright anymore and doubled over, letting himself fall into the warm sand, still laughing. After the mild panic, the subsiding rush of adrenaline left them all giddy and one after the other they joined in Jason's slightly hysterical laughter. A minute later, sitting and lying scattered on the beach they all looked like they had been carefully sand-coated from head to toe.

Peter pointed an accusing finger at Jason and, making an effort to catch his breath, managed to get out: “It's all your fault, telling these horror stories.” And with a “C'mon guys, let's make him pay” he launched himself at Jason, bowling him over and coming to sit on top of him, he pinned Jason's arms to the ground. Taking his cue, Lucas and Ivy started shovelling sand onto a laughing and squirming Jason with their hands, while Matt, Tanya and even Nadia cheered and clapped.

Peter was enjoying himself. It was exactly the kind of happy, carefree day with his friends he had had in mind, when he had envisioned a trip to the lake in the morning. But sitting on top of Jason's stomach, straddling his squirming body and throwing down all his weight (he wasn't as tall as Jason and also a bit lighter) to keep Jason from struggling free of his grip - he felt something else, something more. A heat where his skin touched Jason's. A flutter in his stomach that seemed to bubble all the way up into his chest, making his heart miss a beat. When Jason tried to free his arms, nearly throwing him off, Peter used it as an excuse to entwine his fingers with Jason's and hold his hands down, instead of his wrists, leaning forward, until he nearly lay on top of him, thinking what the fuck was he doing. Jason was his best friend, and losing him was not an option.

But Jason didn't seem to mind. He grinned up at Peter and teased: “It that all you've got? Really, I could get up and walk away any time I wanted.”

That earned him a good-natured slap from Nadia and a laugh from Lucas, who had just finished burying Jason's legs under what looked like half a meter of sand. “Yeah, right.” Lucas winked and brushed the sand from his hands. “I think you can let go now, Peter. He's not going anywhere.”

Reluctantly, Peter sat up and released Jason's hands. For a moment he thought Jason had hesitated slightly to let go of his hands as well. _Probably just my imagination_ , he thought.

The Wonderland Gang repaired to their blankets and towels and started unpacking the provisions they had brought along, ignoring Jason's loudly voiced protest, to dig him out NOW.

“Awww, too bad you're stuck there. These muffins are delicious!” Nadia teased and waved a blueberry muffin in Jason's general direction. This elicited some laughter from the others. Peter punched her playfully on the arm. “How mean you are, Nadia. Remind me to always keep on your good side.”

“If you eat all the muffins, I swear, I'll throw all of you into the lake,” Jason grumbled. The mound of sand shook slightly and showed some cracks, when he tried again to work himself free, but other than that nothing happened.

Ivy had finished eating and pulled a bottle of sun screen from her bag. “I don't care what you're doing, but I'm not getting sunburn.” With a sweet smile she turned to Peter and asked: “ Would you do my back, Peter?” “Um, yeah, sure, if you want.” Peter shot a quick glance at Matt, who looked thoroughly unhappy. “But maybe Matt can help you... I've still got my muffin to finish and...um...”

“Okay”, Ivy shrugged and handed the bottle to a blushing Matt. Tanya and Lucas had lost the interest in the exchange and were already sprawled out on the blankets dozing, Lucas idly twirling a lock of Tanya's long, blonde hair around his fingers. Nadia fished a book from her bag and lay on her side, propped up on her elbow, opening the book about halfway through.

After fiddling with the empty food wrappers for a bit, Peter got up, grabbed a muffin and slowly strolled over to Jason, who was watching his approach silently.

“Sooooo. Are you hungry?” Peter winked at him.

“Yeah! C'mon, Peter. Dig me out.”

“Ah, sorry, can't do that. I'm afraid that must be a unanimous decision by the jury.”

“What?” Jason lifted his eyebrows. “You're so going in the lake, Peter!”

Peter just grinned. Then he sat down next to where Jason's head poked out of the sand and broke off a piece of muffin.

“Be nice. Or I'll eat this myself.”

Jason shut up immediately and just rolled his eyes at him. _Must be a family thing_ , Peter mused, _Nadia does that all the time, too_. He held out his hand and gently touched the small piece of muffin to Jason's lips, hoping Jason wouldn't hear his heart pounding. It felt so _loud_.

Jason's eyes locked on his and he slowly opened his mouth and bit off a bit of the fluffy dough, his lips just grazing Peter's fingertips. Peter nearly forgot to breathe.

“Thanks.” Jason murmured, after he had swallowed. “You're my saviour, it seems.”

Peter felt himself blushing and fed Jason another piece. “Of course I am. I have to, really, couldn't cope with another roommate leaving his mess lying around in our room. I'm used to yours by now.”

“Lucky me, then.” Jason winked at him. “How about you get me out of here, then?”

When Peter shook his head, grinning, Jason bit Peter's fingers that held out another morsel.

The warmth of Jason's mouth and lips made Peter feel faint. He wished he could kiss him then and there. But he had sworn himself, he'd never ever do anything like that. Never do anything to risk their friendship. So, he just gently pulled back his hand and tried to glare at Jason, failing completely.

“Hey. I should leave you here until tomorrow for that! But...” Peter put a finger to his lips and whispered: “I think you'll owe me favour.”

Then he smiled and started digging, unearthing first Jason's arms and hands and then his legs and torso, to the loud protests of the rest of the Wonderland Gang, when they noticed the sand being flung in all directions. Slowly, Jason emerged, caked in wet sand, and hugged Peter tightly, whispering in his ear. “Yes, I think I do.”

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Peter. They went swimming again, Jason tried dunking everyone as a revenge, and later, after the sun had dried them off, they played Volleyball for a while. Ivy and Lucas proved surprisingly capable, Jason unsurprisingly so. Peter got a lot of applause for lunging forward, throwing himself flat on his stomach, and nearly burying his face in the sand too, to reach a ball.

When the sun stood already low over the horizon, they gathered up their things and slowly walked their bikes back to the little path that lead into the woods and back to Saint Cecilia's. They didn't talk, everyone lost in their own thoughts, drunk from too much sun and the company of good friends.

Jason walked by Peter's side, pushing the bike and watching his best friend with a fond smile. Peter had his gaze trained on the placid lake that reflected the colours of the sunset. To Jason he seemed to be glowing with happiness, the freckles on his shoulders and face standing out, looking like a star-studded sky. He loved seeing Peter this happy.

When Peter finally turned his eyes from the lake and looked at Jason, he smiled a smile that lit up his whole face. Neither of them said a word. They didn't have to. Enjoying this quiet, happy moment together, after a perfect day, was enough.


End file.
